Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain

Being a big,...HUGE fan of the late Vincent Price, I caught myself staring at this biography with my eyes and mouth wide open most of the time! This amazing cinema icon, theater legend and family man lived such a rich & well-filled life and remains, years after his death, worshiped by his relatives (naturally), friends, co-workers and everybody who ever got into contact with him. Most of us simply know Price as the always petrifying horror villain who starred in many genre classics ("Masque of the Red Death", "The Abominable Dr. Phibes", "House of Wax", "Witchfinder General", "House on Haunted Hill"...), but this portrait gives more and deeper insight on the friendly and warm-hearted man behind the scary voice and profound charisma. People such as the eminent biographer Lucy Chase Williams as well as Price's own daughter Victioria inform how he got obsessed with different types of art at a very young age and how he constantly pursued his dreams, for example by traveling to Europe all by himself. Particularly fascinating was to find out about stuff relevant to his career, like how and why he gradually opted to always play the "bad guy" in his movies or how he continuously managed to attract new fans by making clever and versatile career choices. It's really obvious that some of the interviewed people, like Dennis Hopper and Roddy McDowell – not exactly small actors themselves, had enormous respect for Vincent Price and considered him one of the most important people they ever worked with. The biography covers all the milestones in Price's career and life and features beautiful photographs of him on film sets or on family affairs. It also shows brief parts of some of Price's most memorable movies, horror or non-horror, like "Laura", "Dragonwyck", "The Fly" and many more. What an amazing man! I worship him!!

Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain (1997)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Vincent Price is the subject of this entry in the series. We start off learning about his life growing up in St. Louis and about him going to Yale for school. After graduation he began acting, which was a lifelong dream ever since he saw Lon Chaney in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. From here we learn how he became a success on Broadway, which led to a contract at Universal and then at Fox. After a good career as a character actor he got a real boost with the success of HOUSE OF WAX and this here led to all new parts as the boogeyman. Also discussed is Price's love of art and we hear about his various contributions and generosity. This is a pretty good entry in the series as fans of Price will enjoy hearing various stories about him but those unfamiliar with this work will get a great idea of what made him so special even when the material he was appearing in wasn't the best quality. We get interviews with the likes of Hazel Court, Dennis Hopper, Victoria Price (his daughter), Norman Lloyd, Lucy Chase Williams, Jane Russell, Roddy McDowell and Roger Corman. The documentary features clips from various Price films and TV appearances and we also get a quick glimpse of the actor visiting his art gallery in East Los Angeles College.

Vincent Price was born into a prosperous St. Louis family, graduated from Yale, studied literature in England, and was seduced into acting after seeing Sir John Gielgud's "Hamlet" numerous times.

The theater brought him back to New York where he made his Hollywood debut and carved out a career as a utility player -- ranging from straight-laced do-gooder through comic support to lurid spoofs of horror movies, many based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories and poems.

He was almost as well known off the screen for his interest in fine art -- establishing a collection at East Los Angeles Community College -- and for his elegant book of recipes. You have to watch out for the last one because there are some misprints. Use only half the amount of breadcrumbs stipulated in the recipe for eggplant parmigiana.

He was heterosexual but a little effete. In "His Kind of Woman," I could barely believe the scenes in which he throws hand grenades at the pursuing villains. He throws them the way other people throw darts in a pub.

Not to demean the actor, the fine arts freak, or the work. His turn as the scorned tragedian in "Theater of Blood" is something I watch repeatedly. Especially hilarious is his impression of the fag hair dresser who electrocutes Coral Brown. And his captain of industry -- and sponsor of a quiz show -- in "Champagne for Caesar" is one of the most amusing performances of the period.

He died at eighty. What an interesting guy.

For those of you that maybe have seen Vincent Price, like me (as I have seen Witchfinder General and Edward Scissorhands), this documentary is a must-see to understand what a successful actor and his contribution to popular culture, and his incredible passion in art! But if you have not heard of Vincent Price, or may have heard of him from somewhere else, like his appearance on the Muppet Show, I will still recommend it to them as it may give them several recommendations to his many films. But if you are a true Vincent Price fan, the sort of fan that has seen his many films many times, or a member of a Vincent Price fan club, you might be less optimistic as I am about this documentary.

First of all, the content of this documentary, personally, is very good. The vast archive that the documentary makers had on Price, like the photographs, archive footage from his films and the home-movie footage, was mind-boggling, but maybe not to the true fan of Vincent Price as most of this is mainly film footage. But they may be satisfied with the old from his childhood to his early adulthood, like I was.

The contributions from the stars were kept to a minimum. So there was only like close friends to Price or his daughter was able to contribute, which was a bit of a disappointment to someone, like me, who is a fan of these biographical documentaries.

After watching this, I just wanted to watch as any Vincent Price films as possible, especially those Edgar Allan Poe adaptations and Tim Burton's animated short, Vincent. But if you haven't heard of Vincent Price before, you may want to watch the occasional film that may be of interest to you. So if you like horror films, you start by watching House of Wax rather than Laura. But for those true fans out there, they may learn a thing or two about his life, like his passion for art stared when he was only 12, when he purchased some art work for under $40.

Overall, for some of those like me, this was a very interesting insight in the life of Vincent Price. For those who have not heard of him, they may find it interesting too. But those true fans, they may be as optimistic as others.